Bridgy Fed vs ActivityPub for WordPress
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bridgy Fed | ActivityPub for WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | Unlicense | MIT |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,238 | ★ 583 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Twitter, Medium |
What are Bridgy Fed and ActivityPub for WordPress?
Bridgy Fed
Bridgy Fed connects personal websites that use IndieWeb standards to the fediverse and the rest of the social web. It translates webmentions and ActivityPub so different networks can interact.
- Connects IndieWeb to fediverse
- Webmention translation
- ActivityPub bridging
- Cross-network interaction
ActivityPub for WordPress
The ActivityPub plugin lets a self-hosted WordPress site federate with the fediverse, so people can follow blog posts from Mastodon and other ActivityPub software. It also delivers comments back as replies.
- Federates WordPress posts
- Follow blogs from Mastodon
- Comments as replies
- Official Automattic plugin
Bridgy Fed vs ActivityPub for WordPress: key differences
Bridgy Fed is written in Python, while ActivityPub for WordPress is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Unlicense for Bridgy Fed versus MIT for ActivityPub for WordPress. ActivityPub for WordPress is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Bridgy Fed. Bridgy Fed is the more established project (first released 2017), while ActivityPub for WordPress arrived in 2019. Bridgy Fed has the considerably larger community, at 1,238 GitHub stars versus 583.
Why pick each one
Choose Bridgy Fed if…
- Released under the Unlicense license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose ActivityPub for WordPress if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Bridgy Fed or ActivityPub for WordPress better?
Neither is universally better. Bridgy Fed has the larger community, while ActivityPub for WordPress is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bridgy Fed and ActivityPub for WordPress free and open-source?
Yes. Bridgy Fed is licensed under Unlicense and ActivityPub for WordPress under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bridgy Fed and ActivityPub for WordPress with Docker?
Bridgy Fed: check the project docs for container support. ActivityPub for WordPress: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Bridgy Fed or ActivityPub for WordPress?
ActivityPub for WordPress has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Bridgy Fed. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.